550 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



water, thus showing that unusually large 

 quantities of water, as in slops, are not 

 a serious matter. 



Pigs following steers — Large cattle 

 feeders usually provide a large number 

 of shotes to run in the fattening yards 

 to utilize the undigested grain in the 

 droppings of the steers. When steers 

 are fed shelled whole corn, about one 

 shote can profitably be used to follow 

 each steer. Shotes following steers for 

 about seven months at the Iowa station 

 gained from 122 to 125 pounds each. In 

 another test the gain was 124 to 140 

 pounds over a feeding test of 223 days. 

 At the Illinois station hogs following 

 steers gained from 0.6 to 3.8 pounds for 

 each 100 pounds of grain fed to steers. 



In one experiment at the Kansas sta- 

 tion hogs following steers fed soaked 

 corn for 150 days gained 635 pounds, 

 while hogs following steers fed dry 

 shelled corn during the same period, 

 gained 747 pounds. Hogs have also made 

 good gains at the same station following 

 steers fed kafir corn. From 11 to 14 per 

 cent of kafir corn was found to pass 

 through the steers undigested. The hogs 

 readily picked out the undigested grain 

 and made good use of it. At the Okla- 

 homa station "five pigs having access to 

 droppings of a lot of steers full fed on 

 corn and kafir corn meal gained only 195 

 pounds in 56 days. In another case five 

 pigs gained 100 pounds in 56 days. In 

 the third case six moderate sized sows 

 gained 245 pounds in 56 days. While 

 these gains are small, they are worth 

 saving. The difference between profit 

 and loss in feeding cattle often depends 

 on the use made of the food wasted or 

 undigested by them." 



When hogs are bought to follow steers 

 being fattened on corn, there is always 

 a profit even in figuring the grain at 

 cost price. The younger the hogs, or the 

 lighter, provided they are sturdy and 

 healthy, the more rapid will the gain9 

 be and the greater the profit. Hogs 

 must not follow tuberculous steers, for 

 they will thus become infected. 



Scrubs vs. pure breeds— I n some ex- 

 periments reported by the Kansas sta- 

 tion with kafir corn it required from 23 

 to 30 per cent more feed to produce 100 

 pounds of gain with hogs of mixed 

 breeding than with pure bred hogs. 



Barrows vs. sows f like age were fed 

 at the New Hampshire station similar 

 rations for 120 days, during which time 

 the sows or gilts gained 110 pounds and 



the barrows 120 pounds. At the Utah 

 station about as good gains were made 

 by sows as by barrows. In Denmark 

 no constant difference has been found 

 in the fattening quality of sows and bar- 

 rows. Unspayed sows at the Utah sta- 

 tion have made slightly better gains than 

 spayed sows. The Indiana station reports 

 that the periods of heat in the sows had 

 no apparent effect on gains. 



Pigs vs. calves—Calves at the Michi- 

 gan station ate less grain, consumed 

 considerably more milk and required ap- 

 preciably less dry matter to make a 

 pound of gain than pigs. 



Relation between age and gains made 

 by hogs — Experiments at the Wisconsin 

 station have shown that the cheapest pork 

 is made with growing pigs. Pigs weigh- 

 ing between 50 and 100 pounds do not 

 require within 40 to 80 per cent as much 

 food to make a pound of gain as 



Fig. 349 — CONSTRUCTION OF FEEDING 

 TROUGH 



weighing 300 to 350 pounds. This fact 

 is now so well understood by feeders 

 that only a few definite examples need 

 be cited. At the Utah station it required 

 62 per cent more food to produce a 

 pound of gain with hogs weighing be- 

 tween 200 and 255 pounds than it did 

 when they weighed from 38 to 100 

 pounds. At the Hatch station in Massa- 

 chusetts it has not been found profitable 

 to feed hogs beyond a weight of 180 to 

 190 pounds. The daily food consumed 

 after these weights have been reached 

 has cost more than the value of the gains 

 made. Kesults of experiments at the 

 Central experimental farm in Ottawa 

 indicate that the most economical time 

 to slaughter swine is when between 175 

 to 200 pounds. The following table, mod- 

 ified to include recent work, is adapted 

 from the work of Henry in Feeds and 

 Feeding and brings out clearly the re- 

 lation between the age of hogs and the 



